Messages

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Third party software and hardware support forums. / I need a PMDX-134 simple motherboard

« on: September 12, 2023, 05:24:15 PM »

I know it's a long shot, but their website is saying 'out of stock'....anyone got a good one laying around. we were down for 9 days after hurricane Idalia and now this....fingers crossed. thank you in advance, dan

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General Mach Discussion / Re: stepper motors changing directions-Please help

« on: July 05, 2023, 10:22:25 AM »

Update!
after troubleshooting the issue until my eyes were bleeding, and thank you to tweakie for your help, it turned out to be bad batteries in the wireless keyboard i use out in the shop. i was told of bad keyboard batteries causing issues like typing a 'T' and getting a 'w'...so why not the 'up' arrow causing a 'down' movement, or in my case very erratic and random motor reaction.

i can say i learned alot from this and would have never thought that 2AA batteries could cause an issue like this, now i know. thank you to those that responded with ideas/help. Dan

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Third party software and hardware support forums. / Re: ESS-no yellow light!

« on: July 03, 2023, 11:30:06 AM »

ok, i am not very experienced at this but i understand. first, when i open mach 3 on my pc i am always given several choices for profile...i always choose the last which we named smoothstepper, don't ask why because i dont know...someone was 'helping' me. i do not show any profile in the right bottom corner of the mach3 screen. yes, it is a legit copy of mach 3 licensed to SAWoodcrafting(my business name).
moving on, when i open the file for mach3 in the C drive i am not seeing any .xml files. i do see xmlbackups but no file named smoothstepper.xml or mach3mill.xml.    i do see xml document files for these but no .xml file.
i suppose once i locate the proper .xml file i9 can follow your instructions as it makes sense to me. thank you again, dan

4

Third party software and hardware support forums. / ESS-no yellow light!

« on: July 03, 2023, 09:50:39 AM »

i have been trying to figure out what i thought would be a simple fix.
my cnc router uses a dedicated pc with mach 3 and no online connection. the machine control rig uses an ESS and Gecko drives for the nema 34 steppers. machine has run almost flawlessly for years. ran a job last wednesday and shut down mach(pc) as normal, the next day upon start up and jogging machine, the y-axis and slave were reversing directions at random and erratic behavior...x and z jogged normally. motors checked out and all wiring connections from motors back to geckos too.
the ESS has no yellow light coming on. this light is supposed to come on at power up and stay on always, as it does on my other machine with ESS. i was told by a very reliable source that it could be either a faulty ESS or perhaps a corrupted xml file. i am trying to fix the issue with a very limited amount of experience. has anyone else ever had this issue? thank you in advance, Dan

5

General Mach Discussion / Re: stepper motors changing directions-Please help

« on: June 30, 2023, 09:02:41 AM »

i am using shielded cables and have never had an issue with 'noise'. all grounds and wire connections are tight at the ends, maybe a break in a wire somewhere? oh boy! lastly, i am using a legit licensed 'to me' version of mach 3. thank you for the advice. dan

6

General Mach Discussion / stepper motors changing directions-Please help

« on: June 29, 2023, 10:13:02 AM »

this cnc router worked fine yesterday. today when starting up i could not jog the machine to the homing position because the y-axis stepper motors were randomly moving in the wrong direction. i disengaged both motors/pinions from the rack and observed the same. acting erratic and randomly rotating in the wrong direction.
i am using Mach 3 with ESS. i read that the little yellow light next to the ethernet cable input should be on. it is not coming on. the green light near ethernet is blinking as it should but no yellow light. any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you, dan

7

FAQs / Re: CNC controller blowing fuses...please help!

« on: July 06, 2022, 12:50:58 PM »

problem fixed. bad wire.

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General Mach Discussion / Re: cnc controller blowing fuses...please help. UPDATE!

« on: July 06, 2022, 12:49:02 PM »

problem solved. last week i bench tested the capacitors and resistor/diode combos and apparently assembled the diode backwards. i then found a faulty wire barely hanging on on the circuit that had been failing. i was sure i found the problem but the fuse still failed because diode being backwards. another round of retesting those components found the issue with the diode...put it back the way it should be and presto!
i believe the initial problem was the faulty wire but i only found it after i had created another problem. hope this helps someone. thanks again joe average!

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General Mach Discussion / Re: cnc controller blowing fuses...please help.

« on: July 06, 2022, 07:01:47 AM »

joe, i actually already did that. the fuse blows upon initial power up with all sensors unplugged. i also removed all 5 of the sensor receptacles and cleaned and checked for loose/broken wires. it has to be something that was affected by the physical move, again. thank you for your reply

10

General Mach Discussion / cnc controller blowing fuses...please help.

« on: July 05, 2022, 12:09:49 PM »

I have a CNC Router Parts Nema 23 control w/ESS.  this system uses a toroidal transformer, 2 x 115vac primary with 28v Ac 8amp and 8v Ac 2amp secondary's. when i power up the machine the 2amp fuse after the transformer and bridge rectifier keeps blowing, this is the side that powers the proximity sensors. i cant find any loose or broken or grounded wires. this happened 2 years ago when i moved the machine and i simply replaced the 2amp fuse and been running fine. well, i just moved again and this time the fuse blew again and the problem is here to stay. i am desperate for help as this is how i make my living and the support team at avid cnc only want to sell me a new control system, very frustated. thank you in advance, Dan
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was not sure where to post this. thank you